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Yoda The Mouse Turns 4

Posted by timothy on from the beats-dog-years dept.

ChiralSoftware writes "Through some genetic engineering to reduce insulin output, Yoda the mouse has lived to over four years old, equivalent to 136 human years. Yoda is a third smaller than normal, and gets cold all the time so he must snuggle up with Princess Leia, his cage-mate, but he is alive and full of vigor at the ripe old age of 4. Who's next for insulin reduction?"

24 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Yoda by dont_think_twice · · Score: 3, Funny

    Four years old, and he can still jump around do all those backflips? That is amazing.

    1. Re:Yoda by knightPhlight · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'd be jumping around too, if I were sleeping with Princess Leia. Think golden bikini...

  2. Longevity and diet by FlyingOrca · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hmm, this makes me think of long-lived individuals from Japan. Seems to me that the traditional Japanese diet would, overall, have a very low glycemic index, and that could in turn promote long life as in this mouse. Anyone know more about this?

    --
    Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
    1. Re:Longevity and diet by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Japanese generally eat a lot of rice- which has a pretty high glycemic index in fact; not dissimilar to bread. The Japanese average life expectancy is only a few year higher than America's.

      OTOH, those living in Yokinawa often eat a lot of sweet potato. Sweet potato has a reasonably low glycemic index- the Yokinawian's live a long while; orders of magnitude more over 90.

      --

      -WolfWithoutAClause

      "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"
    2. Re:Longevity and diet by FlyingOrca · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, I knew that about the rice. I wonder if it's bleached or brown that they eat; probably makes a difference. I was thinking more overall insulin release from their diet, though.

      Regarding average life expectancy, I wonder how the relative difference between the USA and Japan has changed as the Japanese diet has become more westernized. Maybe the exceptionally long-lived Japanese are those older folks who still follow a more traditional diet? Food for thought, anyway. No pun intended. ;-)

      That's very interesting about the sweet potato. I'd kind of been avoiding it; might have to reconsider. Cheers!

      --
      Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
    3. Re:Longevity and diet by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 3, Informative
      I wonder if it's bleached or brown that they eat; probably makes a difference.

      No, not terribly much. The glycemic index of white rice is 58, brown is 55 (lower is better; but this is a relatively modest difference.)

      Also, a lot of people/magazines will tell you that brown bread has a lower GI than white. Whilst brown bread is higher in vitamins and minerals, it has substantially has the same GI as white (very slightly lower).

      --

      -WolfWithoutAClause

      "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"
    4. Re:Longevity and diet by Spazmasta · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's also important to note that often "average life expentancies" produces confusing implications, because "average life expectancy" doesn't necessarily mean how old someone will be before he/she dies of old age, but is simply the AVERAGE of people dying of old age as well as people dying of car accidents, cancer, jumping off cliffs, etc.

      Thus, such variations in life expectancies could very well be caused by cultural factors like smoking and car use instead of the source of carbohydrates (wheat vs rice).

    5. Re:Longevity and diet by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Woah! 900 years old! that's amazing!!!

      He hasn't yet clarified his statement, but I took it to mean the number of people living past 90, not their actual age. Still an exaggeration, of course, but orders of magnitude less of one ;-)

  3. Slower metabolism = longer life? by StateOfTheUnion · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I remember a professor in university that said that one of the easiest way to increase lifespan was to consume about 20% less . . . it would slow down the metabolism and extend one's life if practiced over a lifetime. This was theorized as the reason why some Tibetan monks typically live much longer than other people living in the same area . . .

    I wonder if this mouse is doing something similar, but its been genetically engineered to be well . . . about 33% less . . .

  4. Of Mice and Men... by phraktyl · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh sure, the mouse gets a reduction in insulin, and he's still going strong after twice his normal life span.

    And here, I don't produce insulin---found out I had Type I diabetes when I was 22---and do I get twice the life span? Heck no. I'll be lucky to make 50 at the rate I'm going.

    What's up with that? Damned mice.

    --
    Karma: Marginal (mostly due to the border around the website)
  5. Hell no by waytoomuchcoffee · · Score: 2, Funny

    No way in hell would I want to be full of vigor at 136 and snuggling up to Princess Leia every day, especially if she was wearing her Return of the Jedi outfit.

  6. Lucky Bastard by Aoverify · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Yoda is still mobile, sexually active and "looking good," said Dr. Richard A. Miller"

    Still sexually active? If I could live to the ripe old age of 136, I bet nobody in the world would have sex with me.

    1. Re:Lucky Bastard by a+whoabot · · Score: 3, Funny

      People have sex with donkeys and the dead. I'm sure you can find someone who would have sex with you.

    2. Re:Lucky Bastard by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

      Still sexually active? If I could live to the ripe old age of 136, I bet nobody in the world would have sex with me.

      Old age had nothing to do with it.

      You post on Slashdot, by age 136 you'll have had 136 years to get used to not getting sex.

      --
      Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
    3. Re:Lucky Bastard by TheLink · · Score: 2, Informative

      Seems more than a few people here might take 136 years to find someone who would have sex with them. ;)

      --
  7. come on, someone has to say it by secolactico · · Score: 5, Funny

    "When four years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?"

    --
    No sig
  8. That's nothing! by flikx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wasn't Mr. Jingles just over 70 years old? That 4 year old mouse has a lot of catching up to do.

    --
    One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
  9. Natural genetic mutation, not genetic engineering! by mrgeometry · · Score: 4, Informative

    Audio report on this story (produced for Michigan Radio's Stateside program):

    http://www.michiganradio.org/stateside.asp

    Scroll down to April 9th and listen in Real Player (sorry). The relevant bit starts at the 32:00 mark. (Yeah, the whole thing is an hour long... sorry.)

    Anyway, this report was produced locally here in Ann Arbor, by a friend of mine who interviewed Dr. Miller in person. The whole point is that the dwarf/long-lived mutation is in fact naturally occuring, **not** the result of genetic engineering.

    (Also, the audio report suggests that the colony is much larger, but perhaps the older mice are sequestered from the rest of the colony, so the AP report might have that right; hard to say.)

    zach

  10. Insulin is the start of a long chain by Tau+Zero · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Maybe you won't have to mess with insulin, if something else further down the chain of effects (and more specific to aging) can be tweaked instead.

    And don't give up on this being useful. Have you followed the rate of improvement in assays and genetic screening, not to mention the huge leap in DNA sequencing? The way things are moving, we might be able to go from discovery of the biochemical basis of slower aging to confirmation in broad populations to "dietary supplements" that will give you many of the benefits in just a few years. Certified drugs will take longer, but you'll be able to use the same tests to confirm that your supplements are having the desired effect.

    --
    Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
  11. How is this not in the Main section? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is a factual story that involves,

    1) Star Wars,
    2) A steamy encounter between Yoda and Princess Leah,

    and especially

    3) A genetic modification that allows sexual prowess for nearly two standard lifetimes (and counting!).

  12. What went through my mind... by Jorkapp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yoda... must snuggle up with Princess Leia

    Just the thought of Yoda and Princess Leia in bed together... I don't know whether to laugh or vomit.

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
  13. Hah by psyconaut · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Yoda's cage mate, Princess Leia, is a much larger female who uses her body warmth to keep the dwarf mouse from freezing to death. "

    I used the same excuse with my ex-gf....."snuggle me with your ample bossom, or I'll freeze to death!" ;-)
    -psy

  14. 4? Big Deal by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had a pet wild mouse that made it to seven. He ran about a mile a day in his wheel, and ate mostly peanuts.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  15. Methuselah Mouse Prize by asterism · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you want to see more of this type of research which will eventually be applied to humans, you can contribute to the Methuselah Mouse Prize. This prize will be awarded to the longest lived mouse.

    http://www.methuselahmouse.org/